


If You Go Into the Woods

by DellaVie



Category: Behind Closed Doors - Fandom, Konar
Genre: Gen, Konar 'Verse
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-01-19
Updated: 2013-01-19
Packaged: 2017-11-26 01:20:14
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,089
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/644953
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DellaVie/pseuds/DellaVie
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>He would never forget the day he met them, the <em>other</em> Others.</p>
            </blockquote>





	If You Go Into the Woods

**Author's Note:**

  * For [B.C. Conner](https://archiveofourown.org/gifts?recipient=B.C.+Conner).



He would never forget the day he met them, the _other_ Others. They were different from all the Others he had encountered so far in the war, even more incomparable than that filthy, half-breed weta. Everything about them; their clothes, their voices, their manner - it was just so odd that he had a hard time rationalising that it had actually happened.

It was during a raid on a small outpost that he ran into them. His unit had been caught in the crossfire by a contingent of demons that had doubled back to trap them. Most of his unit had gone down, and he had no choice but to run further into the woods to try and lose the monsters on his tail.

 His legs pounded on the forest floor as he all but flew through the trees, building up momentum and distance between his pursuers. It was because he was going this fast that he stumbled into one of them when he hopped an overgrown root.

“Pootan!” The brown-haired man exclaimed, staring up at the sky as though he wasn’t quite certain how he ended up on the ground. His companion was currently snickering at him from his position nestled in the crook of the trees’ roots.

“Say pour kwa juh jah may-” The red-head started, but the other man cut him off before he could finish.

“Tie gull,” He said has he slowly picked himself up. He rolled onto his feet and then dusted his hands, looking about the ground as though he had lost something. When he seemed satisfied with his surroundings, he crossed over to Octan and offered his hand.

For all the attention he was paying, the man might as well have offered him a bag of gold. Octan was still busy trying to process everything so he could decide on what to do. They looked human enough, but their clothes were unlike anything he’d seen. The stitching was invisible to his eyes, as though their fabric was simply woven into that shape. Their shoes were made of a material he’d never seen before, and their words were nothing more than jibberish to him. And while it was possible that they could simply be from a far nation, how exactly did they manage to end up in the middle of Other territory unscathed? And why wasn’t the demonic patrol that was hot on his heels  bursting into the clearing to slaughter them all? There weren’t human, he was sure of that much. But he didn’t know what powers they had that kept the others at bay. Octan gazed into the blue eyes of the man before him, as though all his secrets would be revealed. He also used this brief impasse to ascertain whether or not he had lost his sword in the tumble.

As the seconds dragged on and all Octan did was continue to stare, the man slowly withdrew his hand and turned to shrug to his friend.

Octan was on him in that second, his blade around the man’s throat as he used the stranger’s body as a shield, should the other one try anything.

Neither of the two seemed threatened by him in the least. The ginger-haired man simply raised his eyebrows, and his mouth twitched as though he were trying not to smile. The man in his grasp was giving him a sidelong frown which seemed to suggest he thought Octans’ actions were akin to running around the village naked singing the Song of the Long Days. Slowly, the man raised a finger to the blade.

Once it connected, Octan felt as though he were being burned alive from the inside. It happened in a flash, and then he found himself on the ground again, staring up at the man who now held his sword in his hands, and was bending it into a circle as though it were the soft clay that children’s weapons were made of. He began to swing it around, dismissing Octan in favour of his new toy.

The other man came to stand before him then, and offered his hand in the same way that his friend had done earlier.

 “Who are you?” Octan finally asked, having run out of alternatives.

“Alex.” The man said, and then pointed to his companion who had taken his vigil by the tree. “Shock.”

Octan realised that while they spoke another language, they seemed to understand him. He also realised that they seemed to have no interest in killing him. At least for the moment.

He accepted Alex’s assistance and drew himself up. Despite the two inches the man had on him, Octan was fairly certain he could take him if it came down to it. He just needed some more intel to dispense of his friend.

Shock muttered something in their nonsense language, and Alex replied with a laugh. Octan got the impression that it was about him. He looked at Alex, who adopted an innocent expression and edged out of his reach.

And awkward silence descended as they all stood around. Alex looked like he was thinking of something to say, his mouth opening and shutting in aborted attempts. Shock was busy fiddling with Octan’s new Ring-blade and Octan himself was waiting for one of them to make a move.

Eventually Shock grew bored with his new toy and tossed it at Octan’s feet. He gestured down the path Octan had come from, and said something that Octan assumed involved him leaving.

Alex apparently disagreed with that, pointing first at Octan and then the trees just off to the right. Shock looked where he was pointing and shrugged. They started to argue after that, and Octan used the opportunity to slide his foot over to his weapon and slip it underneath.

Alex threw up his hands and as the argument reached its peak and stormed off into the woods. Shock looked at Octan and nodded for him to follow.

Octan listened for any sound of Alex, and when he couldn’t hear any he made his move. Flicking his foot up, he caught his sword in his hand and flung it at Shock. Unfortunately its new shape had an improper weight distribution which threw the balance off. Though wobbling uncontrollably it still managed to cleave through Shock’s shoulder and impale him to the tree. Octan ignored what he assumed was Shock swearing in favour of finding a good vantage point from which he could get the jump on Alex when he returned.

 

 --

The cry of his comrade was loud enough that he reappeared in a flash, standing right next to Octan and taking in his wounded friend attached to the tree. He shook his head and, with strength far greater that he ought to possess, delivered a punch that sent Octan flying. Octan’s body hit the ground in an undignified heap, gathering dirt into his clothes as he slid across the terrain. When he had stopped moving, the vehement pounding in his shoulder signalled that it had suffered the brunt of the impact, and forced him to raise himself one-handed, the arm now hanging limply at his side.

While he still believed himself right in not trusting those two Others, the fact remained that they were the ones responsible for holding the rest at bay. And now, having landed outside the little cove of trees in which they were nestled, Octan found himself surrounded by a pact of vampires, who regarded his sudden presence with predatory fascination. They began to close in on him and, with little else to defend himself, Octan raised his one good arm to fight.

“AAAAH-LEEEEEEEEX!”

The second’s distraction was all they needed, and while Octan had glanced to the sound of the scream they were on top of him. Fingernails dug into his skin and teeth ripped apart his flesh as his blood poured out of the wounds; his body only staying upright by the bruising grip they had on him.

“AAAAH-LEEEEEEEEX!”

It was closer this time, and amid Octan’s feeble struggles he imagined that it was a woman’s cry for help. A woman he’d be no more able to save than himself.

“AAAAHL.....” Her voice trailed off as she appeared in the clearing, taking in the feasting in front of her with horrified eyes.

 _Run!_ He wanted to say to her. _Get out of here!_ But with a sluggish heartbeat and a dry mouth it seemed so hard to form the words. Vaguely, he felt his body falling. His head hit the ground with a distant thud as the vampires abandoned him for their next meal. He wanted to roll over, to help her, but his arms weren’t co-operating and his eyes had blurred into obscurity the moment his head hit the ground. All he could smell was the soiled dirt at the end of his nose and the sounds all bled into another, ultimately yielding to the slowed, throbbing that echoed throughout his body. He was a fighter, a warrior. And he couldn’t help but feel some sense of betrayal upon his body as it slowly surrendered to the black instead of fighting like it should...

 

 --

“oooiiiiyyyy...”

It was the first thing he remembered when he woke up. The strange sound that made no sense and seemed to stretch on forever. The next thing he remembered was the cool, welcoming trickle of water as it made its way down his throat. It refreshed his dried mouth and woke his organs with the gentle caress of a loved one. Slowly he opened his eyes.

It took three or four tries of blink-focus-blink before the image before him began to make sense. It was the woman from before, brown hair and concerned eyes and upside down as she waited for him to do something. She smiled softly, and Octan felt a weight shift from under his head to on top as she laid a hand down to stroke through his hair.

He wanted to reach up and touch her – make sure she was real – but his hand wouldn’t obey. He tilted his head to see why when he saw it firmly underfoot of the Other from before.

Alex. That is what the woman had been shouting earlier. His name. She knew him. Which mean she was one of them. Octans’ eyes widened as he realised this, and the creature named Alex smiled in response.

The woman seemed to sense his agitation, and she turned his attention back to herself, cooing softly in her voice to sooth him, and sending an unimpressed glare to Alex when she thought he wasn’t looking.

Octan felt the weight on his hand lift, and heard Alex amble off to talk to the other one who was standing a little ways off.

Octan considered the woman before him anew. She was clearly the one in charge. And from the cold earth beneath him, he seemed to be lying in her lap. This degree of care clearly indicated some interest in him from her part, but to what end Octan didn’t know. But he did hope he could use it to his advantage and escape with his life intact. He assessed his position. He could feel his hands, and feet. The throbbing in his shoulder was gone, and all that was left from his earlier pains was a dull ache all over his body, as though he had exercised too much during training. But other than that, he felt fine. Which he shouldn’t, he knew. He should be in agony right now. They must have done something to him.

His body tensed in wait for an answer. “What... have you done to me?”

The woman paused for a second, looking from his eyes to the rest of him and finally back. Her brow furrowed, and when she spoke it was slowly, but in a language he understood. “Save you.”

“How?” He asked, almost dreading the answer.  He expected her to say several things, and he was prepared to deal with the consequences of each. If they had turned him into one of them, he was prepared to do what was necessary to end his own life.

What he hadn’t expected her to say was “Luck.” And when he looked up at her, she looked confused before adding,

“You strong. Don’t die. We... tie you body. Hel... heal.”

She was having trouble with the language barrier, and her friends seemed to know it. Octan could hear snickering from over by the trees.

“Tay twa.” She snapped in their direction, before turning back to Octan and waiting patiently.

Octan raised an arm above his head and surveyed the shining, silver fabric that covered all his bites and scratches. He felt the ache in these places, but could see no blood and no wound beneath the material. He picked at the edge of one that ran elbow to wrist and started to pull. It felt like his flesh was being ripped off, and no sooner had he started did he stop, staring at the seemingly harmless cloth in wonder.

“Leave. Heal.” She said, slowly lowering his arm to the ground.

Octan let his arms fall, instead using them to raised himself up out of her care and into a sitting position. As he took in the two by the trees, he heard her come to circle in front of him, an approving smile on her face. She held out a hand and Shock made a strange warning noise in the back of his throat.

Unlike the previous attempts of her friends, Octan took this woman’s hand and let her help him up without trying to threaten or use her as a hostage. She smiled and let his hand go, instead pointing at herself. “Steftalee.”

“What are you?” He asked, and took a cautious step back as he waited on her reply.

“Lee....o?” She answered. Though from the tone in her voice it sounded more like a question.

Alex spoke some more jibberish to her, and she turned back to him and said. “Human,” with a smile on her face.

“You’re human?” Octan was in disbelief.

“Yes.” She nodded happily.

Octan spared a glance at the other two, who seemed to be watching the conversation with casual interest. Steftalee followed his gaze and snickered. “No human.”

That didn’t make sense. If they weren’t human – of that he was sure – then why would they listen to her? What power did she possess to make them follow her? Surely he was missing something. He pointed at them. “Not human?” She nodded, and he pointed at her. “Human?”

She nodded again and pointed at him. “Human.”

“Where are you from?”

She deliberated on this question. Her mouth opened and shut in aborted attempts before settling on. “Away.”

Octan tried to imagine a place where the Other were subject to humans, and if it were possible to travel there and try to find out how they managed such a feat.

“Far Away.” Steftalee amended, almost sensing his question.

Octan cast a look at the Others. “Why are you here?”

Steftalee looked over at them as well, pointing at Alex. “Alex is.... ree tah did.”

Whatever words she had used made Shock snigger and Alex open his arms with a pout. Steftalee noticed Octan’s confusion and added. “Fool. Alex is fool. Why we here.”

The two others cocked their heads and looked over to the right. They then held out a fist and started shaking it at the other before stopping. At the last moment Alex uncurled his fist and lay his palm flat. Both men looked at the fist and hand before Alex smirked, waved his outstretched fingers and watched Shock turn and disappear into the trees.

Steftalee gestured after Shock and spoke. Alex shook his head, waving off her words and then they lapsed into a silence. After a moment she then gestured to Octan and asked something else, and Alex thought a beat before pointing behind them. Another silenced descended and Octan thought that this was a good time to ask the question he had been putting off since he woke.

“What do you want with me?”

Steftalee seemed to forget he was standing right next to him, and jumped at his voice. If anything, it only seemed to solidify the dubious claim of being human. “Nothing. You hurt. We heal.”

“But _why_ did you heal me?” Surely they had a reason, they just weren’t revealing it yet.

“You hurt.” She repeated, as though she wasn’t sure she was saying it right. Octan didn’t think she was.

Shock came back into the alcove at that moment, saying something to Alex, which in turn made him say something to Steftalee. She nodded and turned back to Octan.

“You people that way.” She pointed in the direction Alex had earlier. “Half day walking.”

They then stared at him in expectation. He was supposed to leave? Just like that? There was still so much that didn’t make sense. What about the fabric on his arm? Would it stay forever? Why were they here? What was going on? Where-

“Dez oh lay.” Shock said. He strode over and held out Octan’s sword. It was straight once again, but for a kink near the hilt. He didn’t let go of it straight away, instead sending a warning to Octan that he better not try anything. Though unspoken, Octan nodded and sheathed his weapon.

Shock then returned to stand by Alex, where they waited for Steftalee.

She smiled at Octan, and waved her hand. “Bye!” She said, before following her two companions as they disappeared through the trees.

 

 --

The half-day’s walk back to camp did little to settle his mind on the matter of what had actually happened to him. He remained tight-lipped on what had actually occurred whilst missing from his platoon, and fearfully yelled at any medic that tried to pry the soft, silvery fabric from his wounds. With little else to do on the matter, Octan was declared a lucky survivor of the onslaught, and quickly put back into training rotation. As days passed the material that once clung to his limbs slowly loosened and faded until all that was left fell off unnoticed as they marched through a scrub. And when he looked back on the ordeal a month later, he would realise that all he had to commemorate meeting the strange and unusual Others was a slight kink in his sword, and a memory that he would never share.

After all, who would believe him?


End file.
